Spurs fans' worst playoff fear is trending toward becoming reality

Imagine this: it's mid-April, the San Antonio Spurs are locked into the No. 2 seed in the West, and will soon play in their first playoff game in seven years. Life would be good, right? Well, about that. Their return to the postseason could come with quite a hurdle right away, as Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets could be the No. 7 seed. We don't need to remind you how the 2018-19 season ended.

Denver is currently a single game away from falling into the top half of play-in tournament territory, where it'd need to win just one game to lock down the seventh spot in the playoffs. The Nuggets have been on a downward spiral as of late, but make no mistake, this isn't a team the Spurs want to run into in the first round.

You're probably tired of hearing about San Antonio's lack of playoff experience. That's understandable, but when it comes to facing a battle-tested team like Denver, that Spurs weakness could really come back to bite them. The Nuggets did win it all in 2023, and aside from Michael Porter Jr., their core group is still intact.

Spurs could be headed for a showdown against Nuggets

Jokić and Jamal Murray know how to elevate their games to another level in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon does, too. We all saw his game-winning dunk and three-pointer last year. They have the depth they lacked last year to make a championship run, as long as everyone stays healthy, which they've struggled with. They're still waiting for Peyton Watson, who was having a breakout season, to return.

It may feel a little odd, but fans should be rooting for Denver over the final month of the regular season, not in the three games the Spurs will play them. Is it obvious that the Nuggets have the sixth-toughest remaining strength of schedule in the league? Playing Wemby three times in one month?

Regardless of how confident you are in this San Antonio squad (and you should be feeling pretty good right about now!), barreling into a Jokić-led team in the playoffs isn't the first thing you want coming for you. On the flip side, taking down the Nuggets would quickly end the questions about how the Spurs will fare in the postseason. Talk about making a statement right out of the gate.

As fun as that would be, it'd be nice to hold off on seeing a team like Denver that early. You don't go into the playoffs expecting a relatively "easy" first-round matchup, but you definitely don't think you'll get what feels more like punishment for securing the No. 2 seed, either.